Following a Cabinet meeting over the weekend the Finance Secretary of the Philippines Cesar Purisima said to members of the press that the national tax authorities are currently investigating the feasibility of applying on country’s mining industry a new taxes on carbon emissions and the use of mineral resources.

The Finance Department of the Philippines is investigating a proposal made by Environment Department to see all of the country’s mining sites reclassified as mineral deposits, allowing the government to collect a new 5 royalty tax on profits earned. Under current regulations, mining operators are faced with a 2 percent excise tax on their profits, along with the regular taxes levied on businesses operating in the Philippines. The government is also looking at instituting a carbon tax system, which would see the country’s top polluters charged a preset levy, which will be calculated per ton of pollutants released into the atmosphere.

According to Cesar Purisima, the government is monitoring the development of similar tax measures around the world, and especially in Australia. He explained that if the taxes seem applicable to the economic and business situation in the Philippines, they will be added as soon as possible. However, the Secretary conceded that the measures could still be years off, as any new taxes would be required to be legislated by the national Congress.

The mining industry has already stood up against the prospect of new taxes being implemented, claiming that the government already receives a fair share from the revenues of mining operators. Rocky Dimaculangan, vice-president for communications of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, suggested that instead implementing new taxes, the government should focus on improving tax collections and compliance of small mine operators, and reducing the occurrence of illegal mining operations.

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Throughout the financial turmoil of recent years, Belgium has been praised for its handling of the downturn, having felt only a relatively minor impact from the disturbances, which was followed by a quick recovery. However the country is now at an impasse, seeing its debt-to-GDP ratio increase to 97 percent, which is putting an indefinite delay on the government’s plans to create funds for potential financial problems in the future.

In a report released on June 12th the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified shortfalls in the Belgian tax system which will need to be addressed if the country wants to decrease its debts levels.

According to conclusions drawn in the report, the government of Belgium will need to make significant cuts in government spending. The tax system will also need to be overhauled to remove distortions and inefficient biases. The key changes that were recommended to Belgium were a shift of tax burdens away from labor and productivity, and a general broadening of the tax base. Both measures should be complimented with a reduction in tax rates, with particular attention to cuts to personal income tax rates and corporate income tax rates.

It was noted in the report that the government of Belgium should make greater efforts to coordinate its environmental policies. New taxes should be instated to address housing and transport emissions, as these pollutants are not covered by the EU emissions trading scheme. A well designed and thoroughly planned carbon tax would be an ideal measure to address the issue of green taxation.

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At a press conference held on July 10th in Canberra the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard revealed the final pricing details for country’s long-debated carbon tax system. The Prime Minister also described the tax system overhauls aimed at ensuring that the country’s economy does not suffer under the new tax.

From July 1st 2012 the national carbon tax will be set at AUD 23 per ton of pollution released into the atmosphere. The price is scheduled to rise by 2.5 percent each year for the following three years. On July 1st 2015 the tax will be replaced with an emissions trading scheme, in which the effective price of emissions would be determined by the market.

Approximately 500 businesses will initially be required to pay under the new carbon tax system. According to the Prime Minister, approximately half of the revenues raised will be reserved to fund a series of tax cuts for Australians, while the other half will be used to organize initiatives aimed at lessening the financial impact that the new tax will have on the Australian economy.

The Prime Minister also announced that on July 1st 2012, the country’s taxpayers will see a measure of financial relief, as the tax free payment threshold for personal taxes is raised from the current AUD 6 001 to AUD 18 201. The level is scheduled to be raised to a further AUD 19 401 in 2015. After the initial increase, the lowest marginal tax rate will be raised to 19 percent, from the current 15 percent. Despite the rate rise, the Prime Minister said that Australians will not be worse off after the changes, and the new tax balance will improve the financial situation of most employed Australians.

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On June 20th the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and the Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key spoke at a joint press conference in Canberra, announcing that the two countries are set to work together in an effort to form a cooperative emissions trading scheme.

Julia Gillard and John Key explained that the economies of Australia and New Zealand are closely linked, creating an opportunity to form a strong and effective bilateral emissions taxation system. The Australian Prime Minister said that tax authorities and policy makers from both countries would soon begin work to amend rules and create legislation which would allow for businesses on either side of the Tasman to trade carbon credits between the two jurisdictions. In 2008 New Zealand instated its own emissions trading scheme, which requires polluters to purchase emissions units for the amount of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere. Operators with unused units are able to sell their allocation to other producers, if they wish.

On the same day, leader of the Liberal Party of Australia Tony Abbot put forward a private member’s bill that calls for a public vote to be held regarding the future country’s emissions tax system. According to an announcement made by the Australian government late on June 20th, the bill could potentially be brought in front of the national Senate as early as June 23rd. The Australian Green party has already called the move a “political stunt”. Near the end of the day Tony Abbot commented on his proposal, saying that it would cost the government approximately AUD 69 million to hold the referendum.

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While speaking in an interview on April 13th the Climate Change Minister Greg Combet assuranced that at least half of the revenues raised by the upcoming carbon tax would be used to fund economic aid projects for low-income households.

“We expect that millions of households will be better off under the carbon price arrangements and the assistance will be permanent” told minister to Australian radio. The exact level of assistance is still to be announced but most of the revenue would go to supporting families from price rises caused as companies passed on the emission experiences on consumers.”

Currently it is estimated that in the first year of operation the carbon tax collection will raise AUD 11.5 billion (EUR 8.37 billion). The remaining carbon tax revenue will be utilized to help ease the transition to the use of cleaner fuels sources and support jobs in the industries affected by the new tax. The Australian government plans to introduce a carbon tax from around June next year, with an emissions trading scheme to follow within five years.

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